'Overwhelming' donations for Elena Court fire victims spilling over into planned yard sale

Local businesses and community members have been donating generously to help the residents of a Charlottetown apartment building that was destroyed by fire — so much so that the storage unit holding the donations is full.

That's according to the organizer of a Facebook group set up to co-ordinate donation efforts in the wake of the June 11 fire at 6 Elena Court.

Jenny McKinnon started the Elena Court Fire Support Facebook group, and she said a donated U-Haul storage unit at that company's location on Capital Drive in Charlottetown "filled up pretty, pretty quick."

Now that burned-out residents have taken what they need to get by, McKinnon said a yard sale will be held to sell the surplus items, with funds going to support the displaced tenants. That yard sale will be held starting at 1 p.m. on July 14 at the U-Haul Moving & Storage location in Charlottetown.  

"I don't know the whole story of where [the victims] are at financially, but if I can support that as well, then we will. And I figured fundraising is probably the best thing," she said.

McKinnon said the community can no longer donate items to the victims due to the lack of storage space, but all leftover items donated will go to the yard sale.

'I can't express how much I appreciate it'

Until the yard sale is held, McKinnon said she's taking in as many additional items as her house can hold.

"People in the community are so, so generous, and so, so kind, and they want to help. So I have a feeling that the yard sale's going to be pretty big... I feel like it'll have a good outcome."

She's also planning to hold a raffle to raise funds, and is hoping to receive donations of prizes for the raffle from local businesses. McKinnon said anyone wanting to donate prize items can contact her on Facebook through the Elena Court Fire Support group.  

"We're all not really sure what we're doing right now," she added. "We're all just trying to help as much as we can."